2.26.2008

The Fireplace Draftstopper: A Damper Cover

In February '06 after we'd been in the house five months, it seemed like a good time to make our beautiful fireplace serve its purpose. I thought that would take the chill off our evenings downstairs.

A chimney sweep cleaned the gutters, swept the chimney, left a fine black dust on the living room, inspected the chimney and then considerably overpriced a new cap. That's okay, I wasn't going to climb up there with a new cap. He said we had one of the strongest downdrafts he'd ever seen. He left the damper up, saying it would make the downstairs more comfortable without costing us more and that I should test it, at least.

We bought a new HEPA vacuum to suck up all the soot and then gleefully let it pull us across every room. We had a couple of glorious little fires using a Duraflame and then a Crackleflame log, which sounds like real wood burning. But the room was no warmer. I was surprised, since my mom's fire heats her family room very well. Of course, she closes the doors to the room. And we have no doors to close off the room from the rest of the house: it's an open floor plan.

Days after the fire was out, the room was still colder than before the sweep had come: the experiment failed (What a surprise! Not.). I managed to dislodge the damper instead of shutting it. We put a blanket over the front of the fireplace and watched the gusts inflate and deflate the blanket animatedly. The sweep came back and fixed the damper, and closed it.

Months later, to prevent the AC from rushing up the chimney, I was looking at fireplace doors online and found a damper pillow at http://www.batticdoor.com/fireplacedraftstopper.html. The Fireplace Draftstopper creates a better seal than a metal damper encrusted with past fire debris. I set the black, plastic inflatable cushion in place and blew it up. It's just as easy to take it out if we want to have a fire.
draftstopper
We definitely noticed the strong draft from the fireplace was much weaker with the cover in place. A small draft still comes up from the gaps in the masonry on the firebox floor. It's on the To Do List.

Last month, our energy auditor was glad to test a house that had a damper cover. He had recommended this type of solution to others since they are so affordable. We discovered ours had deflated a little over time, so I added some air and he said it helped. I checked it again when I replaced the furnace filter, and I'll make it a habit to do them together each time.

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